The majority of people living in Cagayan are of Ilocano descent, mostly from migrants coming from the Ilocos Region. Originally the more numerous group were the Ibanags, who were first sighted by the Spanish explorers and were soon Christianized by missionaries. This is why the Ibanag language (prior to the arrival of Ilocanos) spread throughout the area. Aside from Ilocanos and Ibanags, Malauegs, Itawits, Gaddangs, groups of nomadic Aetas, as well as families of Ibatans who have assimilated into the Ibanag-Ilocano culture make Cagayan their home. More recently, a new group from the south, the Muslim Filipinos, have migrated to this province and have made a community for themselves. In addition to this, Tagalog-speaking people from the Southern Luzon have also settled in the area. Because of this influence from other majority groups like the Ilocano from the West and the Tagalog from the South, the smaller ethnic groups living in the valley could potentially go extinct. With no support from government of raising awareness and preserving each minorities' culture, the future of these groups is next to dim and perhaps in the future, Cagayan will no longer be Cagayan, but a mere province filled with Ilocano/Tagalog speakers with no former knowledge of the previous cultures that lived there beforehand.
